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fadinglucidity t1_jebed1n wrote

Hey šŸ‘‹šŸ» did the move from LA in October to CT. They arenā€™t strict here. Thereā€™s a lot of out of state plates I have noticed. I wanted to get mine done right away. So it was finalized at the end of November. DMV is all appointment based just a heads up. Take a picture of your CA license for memories since they take it from you at the DMV appointment. You are going to be shocked how much cheaper car insurance is here. Insane. Shop around def still.

You will need to get your car smog inspected prior to the registration. Let me if you know need anything. I can help out with anything! Congrats on the move.

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tongue2tied t1_jec8a2i wrote

I moved from LA in June of last year as well. This is a great summary.

One thing to note on costs of owning a car in CT versus CA is the ā€˜car taxā€™. You essentially owe property tax on your vehicle, with the rate depending on what town you live at. The town will bill you by mail, but on a new-ish car it could be up to $2k/year. Itā€™s offset a bit by the fact that registration is significant cheaper and valid for 3 years at a time here.

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fadinglucidity t1_jecgs39 wrote

Yes Iā€™m waiting for my bill from my town. Should be coming this summer I heard.

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a-sillylittlegoose OP t1_jebfrsu wrote

rip california license šŸ™šŸ»

iā€™ve already taken a look at estimates and my jaw is on the floor haha

for the smog inspection is that something i can do here in CA? or would i have to get that done in CT?

appreciate your help from one californian to another :)

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mbard16 t1_jebhash wrote

You have to get it done in CT, and just to avoid confusion, it's actually called emissions testing (smog isn't really a thing here). You can find a place that does it here: https://ctemissions.com/

It's actually really simple, you don't need an appointment, and it's usually pretty quick. I just had to get mine done and it was literally less than 15 minutes.

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a-sillylittlegoose OP t1_jebjudq wrote

sweet, thank you for that :)

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Misty1988 t1_jebxhmt wrote

Just make sure to bring cash. They only accept cash for emissions testing. Itā€™s $20-30 (canā€™t recall the exact cost, but def less expensive than smog testing in CA)

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whateverusayboi t1_jeby7tl wrote

$20...went twice last week.

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Misty1988 t1_jechjw1 wrote

What a steal! You canā€™t get anything for $20 these days lol

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NoMojoNoMo t1_jed4lq2 wrote

I went twice this week. Didnā€™t know they got rid of the late fees

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Masty1985 t1_jee0psi wrote

In a world where you can't buy food with cash at the XL(state owned), you wonder where all the cash really goes? šŸ¤”

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upandb t1_jeef30d wrote

> They only accept cash for emissions testing

Wait, is that true? I'm almost positive the last time I went to emissions I just used my regular credit card...

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Misty1988 t1_jeefsoe wrote

Just looked it up. They can accept other forms of payment, but theyā€™re not required to. Every place Iā€™ve gone to has been strictly cash only for emissions.

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upandb t1_jeeh4rs wrote

Ah gotcha. I've always gone to the same place so I guess that's why I never noticed haha

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Misty1988 t1_jef3yu6 wrote

Which place is this? I should start going there lol

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Athrynne t1_jec5n7c wrote

It's also called emissions testing in California, "getting your car smogged" is just a turn of phrase.

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I_Know_What_Happened t1_jec0f9d wrote

I moved from CA to CT. They arenā€™t strict on registering the car. But you need your title for the dmv. Which the CA dmv has and it took mine like 5 months to get sent over. But again ct doesnā€™t care you can do your license first. As for smog. Till they send your title over if you need to renew registration on your car in CA you can use a 3rd party online site. They charge for it but they will send your sticker to CT. Smog is waived in that case. You will need to do an emission test here prior to registering.

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a-sillylittlegoose OP t1_jec0vie wrote

My CA tags are due beginning of May before I move so luckily, Iā€™ll be good on that. I just bought my car a year ago so Iā€™ve spoken to my lender about my move so hopefully my title wonā€™t take super long to get there. But thank you for the heads up :)

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Calm-Ad8987 t1_jed22ch wrote

You don't need emissions if it's a new car but you DO need to go to any emissions place for a "VIN verification" it's $10 cash & they do nothing. But my fiance didn't have his and the dude was chill at the DMV also didn't have the like 2 pieces of mail you need (from different sources within the past 90 or 30 or something days to a CT address) & again dude was chill. Appointment system was easy breezy imo compared to the state I moved from (WA.)

The whole getting the lender to send the actual hard copy of the title was a pain in the ass in my case, chase sent a copy which is no good, then sent it to my sister in laws address (in another state, no idea how they even knew that??) but again DMV was chill & let me get plates & register & all just said i get a temporary until it officially went through when they finally got it all in order.

Calling the DMV phone line is hell, takes forever, but the people were nice after waiting 3 years on hold.

You need to switch over insurance before going to the DMV & have printed copy of insurance card. Uhh what else...it's good for 3 years which is an odd number to remember tbh.

Car tax depends on mill rate & adjusted car value. Lots of people never register their plates in the correct state in the northeast which is wild. Certain areas you do pay a lot for insurance (like Bridgeport.)

They just said "turn to your right" & took the picture with no warning so my pic is hilariously bad so be ready!

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I_Know_What_Happened t1_jec1415 wrote

The lender doesnā€™t have your title. They send it to the dmv they do have a copy. I would begin that process as soon as you move. I thought my bank would have it and they were like oh no we donā€™t have it CA takes it you have to call them.

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Rustygaff t1_jecc0xv wrote

In CT, the lender gets the title and holds it until the lien is cleared. After the loan is paid off, they mail it to you.

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mkt853 t1_jebiffk wrote

You could always just tell DMV you lost your California license. They can't take from you what you don't have. I assume they can just look you up to ensure you have a valid license in California before issuing you a Connecticut one.

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a-sillylittlegoose OP t1_jebk1k2 wrote

that is trueā€¦ luckily i have my passport so IF they did take my license i could still buy alcohol haha

but kinda stupid of them to take my CA license since they typically mail out new licensesā€¦

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BearLindsay t1_jebvg6e wrote

They give you a printed piece of paper that says "valid identification" on it. They just centralized the actual card production so they mail it out now.

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1234nameuser t1_jebo5di wrote

Has to be done in CT. No rush, cops don't do traffic patrol and there's a property tax on it in CT.

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tookerken t1_jecc8je wrote

You could always just say that you lost your license if you don't want to turn it in. That way you get to keep it. I'm the opposite of you I move from Connecticut to California I moved back in 2001. I still have my old CT ID.

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gangsterkathryn t1_jee14g2 wrote

Depending on the age of your vehicle, you may only need VIN Verification ($10). 4 years old or newer - I just registered my 2021 vehicle yesterday. I also didnā€™t need any emissions or VIN verification for a 1998 and a 1992. Book your appointment at DMV as soon as you have a date to move because appointments are two months or so out for new residents. Iā€™ve been here since August but I just did my registration because I kept having to reschedule when I got to the day.

Also, I moved from Florida and I love it here, so I hope you enjoy it, as well!

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squeedle t1_jecsbiv wrote

I've been here 25+ years but my mom and step dad moved here last year. They have loved it here in CT so far, snow and all. Everytime there is a tax/ fee etc they always marvel how much cheaper it is here than CA.

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darkbeer8 t1_jeckvgg wrote

Do you not have an option for them to just punch "void" in your old license? Hoping that's the case.

Also is the emissions test good for 30 days or so?

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jaywillct t1_jefe70d wrote

We call it an emissions inspection here. The East Coast is in denial that smog is a thing.

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